Top Workplaces: Top leaders

You need to do a lot of things well to be a successful chief executive. Organization, vision, hiring well, cultivating new ideas ... the list goes on.

But communicating openly with employees is fast becoming a cornerstone in American corporate culture, too, and a characteristic of successful chief executives.

At least that's the takeaway from this year's Top Workplaces survey of regional companies.

Employees surveyed said over and over that the best bosses are the ones who let them know how their company is doing -- even if it means communicating bad news.

So we asked the three bosses with the highest leadership scores among this year's Top Workplaces winners for their thoughts on leading a company in the information age and the era of social media. Ray Davis of Umpqua Bank (large companies), Steve Dearborn of Miller Paint (midsize) and Josh Reich of Simple (small) came out ranked highest by their employees in this year's Workplace Dynamics survey.

Background: Davis received his bachelor's degree from the University of Nevada. He's been president and CEO at Umpqua since 1994.

Before leading Umpqua, Davis served as president of the U.S. Banking Alliance in Atlanta, Ga. He is also a certified public accountant and the author of "Leading for Growth: How Umpqua Bank Got Cool and Created a Culture of Greatness."

Umpqua has more than 200 stores in four states and assets of nearly $12 billion.

What employees say: Davis communicates well with everyone in the company from "top to bottom." Employees say Davis' answers aren't always what they want to hear, but he is a transparent leader. He's also a great motivator. What Davis says: Davis says that at the chief executive level, he doesn't do a lot of hiring. But on those occasions when his input on a job candidate is necessary, he says he looks for qualities not listed on the résumé.

"I'm looking for an attitude, a twinkle in the eye. Can they inspire, motivate?"

Davis says Umpqua has never had layoffs, even during the recession. But the company has shrunk staff a few times during its history and has also merged with other banks in the past. During these occasions when employees may have to shift jobs, Davis says it's important for leaders to think about their fears.

"They're thinking: 'What about me? What happens to me?'"

Davis says one principle that guides him is transparency.

"You have to be truthful and you have to get information out fast. Get the fear out of the way. Once it's out there, the healing process begins."

Family: Married, with two sons, 34 and 32. Two grandchildren, too. Background: A native of Princeton, N.J., Dearborn attended Bowling Green State University and later Duquesne, where he received his MBA

Dearborn has spent all his professional career working in the paint business for various companies, including PPG Industries and Imperial Chemical Industries, which was later acquired by AkzoNobel.

Dearborn began working for Miller in 2000. Miller has 280 employees and is 100 percent employee-owned.

What employees say: Employees commend Dearborn for listening well and for being personable. He's the kind of chief executive who "can be contacted anytime."

He's also credited with expanding Miller's market presence throughout the Northwest. The company has four times as many stores as it did in 2000. What Dearborn says: Dearborn says being 100 percent employee-owned makes Miller "as transparent as it can possibly be. Policies, strategy, everything is communicated."

That also means employees are proactive.

"If a guy isn't performing, he's told by other employees he isn't holding his share of the weight," says Dearborn. "The employees have strong pull."

Still, employees don't run the company. Miller has "a chain of command. A structure. Like any other company."

The paint industry is very competitive. Dearborn says Miller is unique because it's a small company, and it functions both as a manufacturer and retailer.

"We do both. That's unique. We're playing against larger manufacturers like Sherwin Williams and retailers like Home Depot. So we need to be smarter, faster, quicker, because we don't have the economies of scale that larger companies have. We have to differentiate ourselves based on expertise and customer service and product quality."

Background: Born in Melbourne, Australia, Reich came to the United States in 2004 to get his MBA at Carnegie Mellon University. That's where he met another student, one of the co-founders of Simple, Shamir Karkal.

These days, Simple has about 50,000 customers and more than 70 employees.

What employees say: Employees say one of Reich's best attributes is his accountability.

"As the CEO, he doesn't 'have' to tell us what he's been up to, but he is always sure to let us know what he's (been) up to."

They also say Reich genuinely cares about them as people, not just as employees of the company he runs.

What Reich says: "We started four years ago with two people. We now have (about) 75 people and are approaching being a medium-sized company. We have some advantages in that we had that startup mentality. There's no reason to believe we can't keep those same values as we grow -- maintaining a culture of innovation, for instance."

"Once organizations get larger, you find those values sometimes are eroded, and are harder to bring back. The key: How do you maintain those values?"

"You have to hire fantastic people and let them do their jobs well. You have to let people go and let them do what they do best."